This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/017,804, filed Dec. 22, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,325,826, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to curtain airbag devices provided with curtain airbags that are capable of being deployed along inner side surfaces of vehicle cabins.
In a vehicle provided with a curtain airbag device, when the vehicle is involved in, for example, a side-on collision or rollover, curtain airbags are deployed downward along an inner side surface (for example, a door and a pillar) of the vehicle cabin so as to protect the head of the vehicle occupant and to keep the vehicle occupant inside the vehicle cabin.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,938 discloses a guide member provided on a C pillar for guiding downward (along the pillar) a rear portion of a curtain airbag, which is inflatable along the inner side surface of the vehicle cabin. Moreover, the guide member in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,938 (incorporated by reference herein) includes a track having a box-shaped cross-section and a slider (as referred to as an “element”) that is movably arranged in the track in the longitudinal direction of the track. The rear end portion of the curtain airbag is tied to the slider. To prevent the rear edge portion of the curtain airbag, which is moved downward, from being retracted upward, latches are arranged at regular intervals along substantially the entire length of the track. The top and bottom ends of the track are provided with mounting flanges; each of the flanges is fixed to the C pillar with a bolt or a screw.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-270413 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses another example of a curtain airbag device. In the curtain airbag device of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-270413, the lower rear portion of a curtain airbag acts as a protruding portion that protrudes towards the back of the vehicle and that is not connected with the vehicle body such that the protruding portion is free with respect to the vehicle body. Further, the protruding portion is folded back along a folding line extending in the vertical direction. After folding the protruding portion, the curtain airbag is folded in a zigzag manner along folding lines extending in the horizontal direction.
Unfortunately, as a result of the structure provided in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-270413, when the curtain airbag is inflated and deployed, the protruding portion is deployed towards the back of the vehicle, rather than backward and downward.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in light of the aforementioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a curtain airbag device having a curtain airbag the lower corner of which can be deployed smoothly and widely.